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Highest slum in the world

Caracas, Venezuela

Nicolas Alvarez speaks on the telephone in his apartment on the 27th floor of the "Tower of David" skyscraper in Caracas.

It boasts a helicopter landing pad, glorious views of the Avila mountain range, and large balconies for weekend barbecues.

Yet a 45-story skyscraper in the center of Venezuela's capital Caracas is no five-star hotel or swanky apartment block: it is a slum, probably the highest in the world.

Credit: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Caracas, Venezuela

Gabriel Rivas, 30, lifts weights on a balcony on the 28th floor.

Dubbed the "Tower of David," the building was intended to be a shining new financial center but was abandoned around 1994 after the death of its developer - banker and horse-breeder David Brillembourg - and the collapse of the financial sector.

Credit: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Caracas, Venezuela

The city is seen from the 44th floor.

Squatters invaded the huge concrete skeleton in 2007, then-president Hugo Chavez's socialist government turned a blind eye, and now about 3,000 people call the tower their home.

Credit: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Caracas, Venezuela

Men sit and look down at a basketball court.

Credit: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Caracas, Venezuela

A woman looks out of a window at her shop in a corridor.

Credit: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Caracas, Venezuela

Thais Ruiz, 36, talks on the telephone and drinks coffee as she sits under a crack in the roof of her living room.

Credit: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Caracas, Venezuela

Genesis opens a balcony door in an apartment.

Credit: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Caracas, Venezuela

Reyes smokes a cigar outside his shop.

Credit: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Caracas, Venezuela

A look from the outside at the tower.

Credit: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Caracas, Venezuela

A woman walks on the roof.

Credit: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Caracas, Venezuela

Men salvage metal on the 30th floor.

Credit: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Caracas, Venezuela

Men rest after salvaging metal on the 30th floor.

Credit: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Caracas, Venezuela

Children stand along the corridors.

Credit: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Caracas, Venezuela

Adriana Gutierrez and her son Carlos Adrian watch TV as they sit on their bed in their 24th floor apartment.